Shah Nawaz Khan: A sparkling shadow of Netaji

As the laws of physics stipulates, every object in bright sun light cast its own shadow. Shadows of the objects falls on the surface of the earth in different degrees and angles depending upon the position of the sun in the sky. Shadows come in zero degree amalgamating its object of origin when the blazing sun stands in the middle of the sky.

It is needless to emphasize that shadows fall on the surface of the earth in dark shade. When a moving object like living being moves, shadows also follows its path as its integral part. As stated, shadows come in dark shade, but there are some unique and resplendent shadows which appear with glows and sparkles and walk with the bright object in equal pomp and glory.

It goes without saying that in the pre-partition days between 1920sand 1940s. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was a shining sun in the middle sky with his anti-British role endeavoring to drive out British colonial forces from the soil of India. Who not knows that Netaji after walking away as president of the Indian National Congress, formed Forward Block and Azad Hind Fouz along with his few dedicated firebrand followers and political allies vowing to compel British colonial forces to pack up their baggage from the undivided Indian soil.

Among few dedicated and daredevil souls under the tutelage of Netaji Subhas Bose who spearheaded their revolutionary zeal to ward-off and jettison British colonial forces, from the Indian soil, the name of Shah Nawaz Khan comes first to be most conspicuously engraved in the pages of history of Azad Hind Fouz and Forward Block of Netaji Subhas Bose.

As stated, when Netaji Subhas Bose's image was towering in the middle sky, his sparkling shadow in the shape of effervescent stature of Shah Nawaz Khan equally surfaced with glows and prominence. Shah Nawaz Khan, who rose to the rank of Captain in the Indian Army, was captured by the Japanese forces after the fall of Singapore in 1942. A prisoner of war in Singapore, he was immensely influenced by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's speeches asking POW to join the Indian National Army (INA).

Shah Nawaz Khan later stated "it will not be wrong to say that I was hypnotized by his (Netaji Bose's) personality and his speeches. He placed the true picture of India before us and for the first time in my life I saw India, through the eyes of an Indian". Impressed by Bose's patriotic speeches, Shah Nawaz Khan joined the INA in 1943. He was included in the Cabinet of Arzi Hukumat-e-Azad Hind formed by Bose.

Later, Netaji Subhas Bose decided to select a regiment consisting of the cream of INA and send it action to spearhead the advance into India. Shah Nawaz Khan alongside with other co-fighters including Lokman Khan Sherwani of Pathantooly, Chittagong led the army into North-Eastern India, fought neck to neck seizing Kohima and Imphal which were held briefly by the INA under the authority of the Japanese.

In December 1944, Shah Nawaz Khan was appointed commander of the 1st Division at Mandalay. Shah Nawaz was later tried for waging war against the King Emperor in a public court martial at the Red Fort in Delhi. Khan was given the death by the court but that sentence was reduced to cashiering by the Command-in-Chief of the Indian Army.

After the Indian National Army (INA) of Subhas Chandra Bose surrendered to British forces, officers and soldiers of the INA were arrested, by then Major General Shah Nawaz Khan, Col. Prem Kumar and Col. Gurbaksh Singh Dillon were tried in court. Upon the directive of Allama Mashriqi, the Khaksars made great efforts for their release and their efforts did not go in vain. During a visit to the Khaksar Tehrik headquarters, Major General Shah Nawaz Khan thanked Allma Mashriqi for obtaining their release. The General also thanked the Khaksars and stated "we are highly grateful to Khaksars Tehrik for their efforts in obtaining our release".

Following death/disappearance of Netaji Suhas Bose in 1945 and after the trial and subsequent release in 1946, Shah Nawaz Khan declared that he would henceforth follow the path of non-violence espoused by Mahatma Gandhi. He joined the Congress Party and having successfully contested the First Lokh Sabha election in 1952 from Meerut. Shah Nawaz Khan had an illustrious parliamentary career becoming The Parliamentary Secretary and Deputy Minister of Railway and Transport for eleven years and held many other coveted ministerial portfolios of the government in the successive years.

In 1956, the government constituted a Committee to look into the circumstances around Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death with Shah Nawaz Khan as the head. The committee concluded four months later that Netaji Bose had died in the airplane crash at Taipei in Formosa (Now Taiwan) on 18th August 1945. The committee stated that his ashes were kept in Japan's Renkoji Temple.

Shah Nawaz Khan was born on 24th January, 1914 into a Muslim family of Rajput-Janjua clan in Matore, a village now in the Rawal pandi district. He had many other relatives in the armed forces. Outside the army, he was the cousin of Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan's father. He received Military education at the Prince of Wales Royal Indian Military College (now the Rashtriya Indian Military College).

To come back to the narrative reflected in the prelude of this piece, this is to recapitulate that with Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's death / disappearance in 1945, Shah Nawaz Khan went through different trials and tribulations of his revolutionary and political life with holding Netaji's sparking shadows in his trait and at the end of the day joined the Indian Congress, from where Netaji Subhas Bose once walked away with rage and fury, to follow the path of non-violence, as stated, espoused by Mahatma Gandhi. Shah Nawaz Khan's fights against the British Colonial force under the command of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose to free the soil of undivided India and his subsequent contribution in making an independent and secular India will be long remembered with due reverence.

Postscript: In a constitutionally declared secular India, it is, of late, disturbing to observe ominous rise of Hindutava euphoria in India. Recently while paying tribute to Netaji Subhas Bose on his birth day celebration, organizers of the Celebration Committee, presumably, indoctrinated by Hindutava exultation chanted slogans of 'Joy Shree Ram' diametrically opposed to Netaji's secular thoughts and slogans that he had in his life time with all revolutionary zeal. This vile act of Hindutava euphoria, of course, created uproar with vehement protests particularly in West Bengal with its crescendo reverberating in the air of the rest of India.

The writer is a former civil servant.